by A C Warneke
“Do you want to go fast or slow?” he asked huskily as he stepped against her body. Heat came off of him in waves, pouring into and liquefying her innards.
“Fast,” she managed, her thoughts sluggish and her tongue thick. Her whole body was pulsating and she was desperate to feel him in her. No sooner had the word past her lips then he was spinning her around, tugging her pajama bottoms and panties halfway down her legs. He slid one hand over her mound, pulling her ass flush against his body, arching her back to give him easier access. Her upper body and cheek were pressed against the door as the tip of his cock nudged the outer lips of her sex; she was shaking with almost painful desire and need.
His breath wrapped itself around her as he whispered in her ear, “Is this what you want?”
She made some sort of sound and felt his other hand move between their bodies, guiding his cock into her. There was no hesitation on his part; as soon as the tip of his penis breached her entrance, he thrust fast and hard, planting himself deep within her body. Her eyes squeezed shut as his fingers curled into her hips, holding her steady as he set a punishing pace.
Explosions were detonating all along her spine, her womb, her belly, and she was losing her grip on her sanity; there was nothing she could hold onto. If Vaughn hadn’t had such a tight grip on her hips, she would have fallen as she came apart. A moment later he stiffened behind her and filled her with his hot fluids.
Afterwards, she flopped around so she could face him, her bones too rubbery to do anything but lean against the door. She should have felt embarrassed or awkward – they barely made it past the doorway of her room before she became mindless with lust. But she just felt… good.
Slowly, he moved his hands up over her body, gliding over her smooth belly, her full breasts, her delectable throat, until she stood before him naked from the knees up. Lovingly, he moved his fingers along her face, watching the movement with utter absorption. He traced along her brow, her nose, her lips; his fingers caressed her cheek, her jaw and his expression of absolute love would have melted her bones if she had any bones left.
And then his gaze met hers and she had to catch her breath; no one had ever looked at her that way before, with passion and desire and love. Tears glistened in her eyes as he closed the distance between them and kissed her. This kiss was gentle, full of promise and adoration and it made the tears spill over.
“Don’t cry,” he whispered, brushing the tears away with his thumbs. “Shh, now; it’s all right.”
“I know,” she gasped, her fingers circling his wrists and holding his hands in place as she held herself up. “I know.”
“Then why are you crying?” he asked, perplexed.
“Because I love you,” she breathed through a watery smile. Sliding her hands up his arms, over his shoulders, she hugged him to her and whispered in his ear, “I just love you so much.”
Reverently, he lifted her up and carried her over to her bed, laying her in the middle of the frilly, pink mattress. Holding her eyes, he slowly finished removing her pajama bottoms, taking her panties as well so that she was laid bare before him. He straightened, taking a moment to drink the sight of her in. His still heavy cock stood straight out from the golden curls between his thighs but she no longer feared it; she had been made for him.
Parting her legs and holding out her arms, she invited him in. Leisurely, he settled his body between her thighs and resumed kissing her; soft, tender kisses that whispered his love. He explored her body with his hands, finding a nipple and giving it a light pinch; brushing a hand over the curve of her hip; sliding a finger into the warm, wet depths of her sex. He claimed her all over again with this slow seduction and she was too overwhelmed to do more than hold on to him else she get lost in the storm.
Kissing her, touching her, he eased his cock into the depths of her body, stretching her as he settled deep within her. He raised his upper body until her breasts just brushed his chest so he could gaze at her as he made love to her. With each slow thrust of his hips, his chest hair caressed her nipples. But it was the look in his eyes that made her catch her breath; he was looking at her in that way of his and she felt it to the depths of her soul.
He reached up and took one of her hands in each of his, twining their fingers together. Framing her face between his forearms, their hands rested next to her head and his face was right before her. There was nowhere else for her to look but then, she didn’t want to look anywhere else. Everything she needed or wanted was all there in Vaughn’s eyes.
Their breaths came in unison as he moved within her, his hips rocking against her as she wrapped her legs around his thighs. His belly rubbed against hers as they made love; there was not one part of his front that was not touching hers. The only way they could have been closer was if she managed to crawl into his skin and live inside him.
Which was creepy if taken literally.
Vaughn’s lips curled into a slow, sexy smile as their bodies grew warmer and warmer. His skin was slick as it glided over hers and she reveled in the carnality and the intensity of their love making. She could feel strands of her hair clinging to her face, just as his hair was sticking to him; and she felt beautiful.
“Come with me,” he breathed, the spicy, minty breath washing over her face, combining with the heated scent of Vaughn. His voice rumbled through her body, making her tremble anew until she was drowning in Vaughn and her body was arching off the bed. Vaughn held her hips to his as he sank into her, again and again, faster and faster, until there was nothing in the entire world but Melanie and Vaughn.
Her cry was cut off as Vaughn covered her mouth with his, taking her cries into him. He plunged into her a few more times, his hips jerking unevenly, until one final thrust and his entire body stiffened, as he came with a low groan. Gathering Melanie in his arms, he rolled to his side and rearranged their bodies and limbs, asserting, “You’re exhausted; get some sleep.”
She giggled as if drunk and snuggled deeper into his embrace. His chest was pressed against her back, his cock tucked up against her butt and she was more than happy to remain that way all night. He was stroking his fingers through her hair and she was already half way asleep but without the heat of sex, she was starting to feel chilled. Shaking, she grumbled, “Cold.”
Tugging the blanket out from beneath them, managing to keep his body wrapped around her, Vaughn covered up their naked bodies. He pulled her closer, breathing in her rich, sweet scent and placing tender kisses along her hairline. He meant it when he told her he’d never get enough of her.
In all of his many years, he had never connected so completely with another person, either human or supernatural. He truly believed that Melanie had been created just for him; he just didn’t know how it was going to end, if it was going to end. Her family was so important to her and he knew that he was, too, and he didn’t see how it would end well. Either way, she was going to end up hurt and he loathed the idea of causing her pain.
It probably would have been wiser to postpone the binding ritual for a few months, to explain how it worked and what it entailed. But when he had watched her fall from the balcony, knowing she was going to die, rational thought fled and he wanted to protect her with everything it was to be a gargoyle. In a few weeks, three at the most, he would explain it to her. It wasn’t like he had more than that before her decision had to be made.
Closing his eyes, he let his mind drift. It was strange sleeping at night when he had spent his entire life living in the dark. And honestly, as a gargoyle, even in human form, he didn’t require much sleep. They were guardians; it was their job to protect their charges so sleep was a luxury and rarely indulged. But, oh how he loved holding a warm, sleeping Melanie in his arms; that was something he would never grow tired of.
When she did her little kitten snore, he smiled, enchanted by the sweet, little sound. For now, he wasn’t going to worry about the future, about what may or may not happen. Melanie was in his arms and that was all that mattered. There was time to te
ll her about his world, later.
* * * * *
“Melanie!” a voice hissed, waking her from her sleep. But she was so warm, and it felt so good just being in Vaughn’s arms that she ignored it. “Melanie! Wake up!”
“Go away,” she mumbled, snuggling closer to Vaughn, feeling his arms tighten around her. Arching her back, she felt his thick erection against her ass; she wanted to feel it in her body.
His low groan made her smile. Until the covers were torn from the bed and she noticed the cold air. Vaughn was wrapped around her, his leg was over hers, one arm was under her neck and his other arm covered her breasts, cupping one in his hand; but the parts that were uncovered were instantly covered in goose bumps.
A low growl came from Vaughn’s throat as the blanket was tugged back into place and she was covered once again. With a sleepy smile, she murmured, “Mmm, thanks.”
The taut lines of his body were what finally alerted her to another person being in the room. She half expected to see a gremlin or an imp when she opened her eyes. Instead, she saw a silently laughing Jensen standing there, his face burnished red as he gawked back at her. He chuckled, “I thought you’d be smart enough to kick him out of your bed before the sun rose.”
Melanie frowned in confusion, “But it’s only….”
“It’s nearly eight,” Jensen chortled, gathering up Vaughn’s clothes and tossing them onto the bed. “Mom is going to be checking on you in a few minutes and she’s going to be furious if he’s still in here.”
Melanie gasped, sitting up and taking the blanket with her, leaving a naked Vaughn lounging on the bed behind her. Calmly, steadily, he sat up, wrapping his arms around Melanie, keeping his eyes on Jensen as a half-smile played on his lips. Jensen snorted but was still grinning when he taunted, “You two are so pathetic.”
Melanie glared at her teasing brother, “What are you doing in here?”
“I knocked on Vaughn’s door to see if he could help shovel snow,” Jensen answered casually, as if he wasn’t having a conversation with his naked sister and her equally naked lover.
“Seriously?” Melanie popped a single eyebrow as she stared at her crazy brother. “You’re going to ask my boyfriend, a guest in this house, if he willing to help out with manual labor?”
“It’s all right,” Vaughn murmured, lightly kissing her bare shoulder. “I’m more than happy to help out.”
Deeper color stained Jensen’s cheeks as he shrugged his shoulders and grudgingly added, “And I wanted a chance to get to know him better; to see if he’s good enough for my sister.”
Melanie wasn’t sure whether the feeling in her chest was affection and gratitude or irritation at his meddlesomeness. “It’s not your place.”
He raised his hands in conciliation, “You’re still my sister and I love you.”
“That’s very sweet but I know Vaughn is a good man,” she declared vehemently, leaning further into Vaughn’s embrace, feeling his lips brush her temple. He made her feel safe and loved; when she was with him, she felt beautiful and less gauche. When she was with him, she felt like herself, like she didn’t have to pretend to being something she wasn’t to be accepted.
“Then I suggest he gets out of your room before mom finds him here,” Jensen urged gently. Shaking his head in sympathy, he added, “You don’t want to upset her.”
Melanie blushed even as she felt Vaughn disentangle himself and shift on the bed. “Right, I guess. Um, thanks for the head’s up.”
“No prob,” Jensen grinned, sliding his hands into his pockets and rolling back on his feet. “I’ll just wait in the hall for you two to get dressed; be a look out.”
“Thanks, Jensen,” Vaughn’s voice rumbled from behind her. “I’ll join you in a moment.”
“I will, too,” Melanie added, feeling a wee smidgen of guilt for being snappy at Jensen.
“Take your time,” Jensen smiled as he stepped towards the door before his cheeks went flame red and he quickly shook his head. “I didn’t mean that; hurry as fast as you can.”
Vaughn and Melanie laughed softly as Jensen left the room, leaving the two of them alone. Turning on the bed, she was dismayed to note that Vaughn already had most of his clothes on. Sticking her lower lip out, she dropped the sheet that hid her nudity, “I wish we had more time.”
Vaughn’s eyes heated to the brilliant gold she loved so much, moments before he tackled her, bearing her back onto the bed. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she smiled up at him but before she said anything, Jensen knocked on the door and said in a loud whisper, “Hurry it up!”
“Later,” she whispered.
“Definitely,” he growled, kissing her hard and quick before pushing himself off of the bed.
She stayed in bed for a few more minutes after Vaughn left, unable to wipe the silly, love-sick smile from her face. She supposed she ought to be grateful to Jensen for waking them up but it had been so very nice sleeping in Vaughn’s arms. It was worth not being able to soar above the city with a gargoyle to be able to wake up with the man.
* * * * *
Vaughn couldn’t believe that he had slept so long or so hard; it felt remarkably good. Rather, waking up with Melanie in his arms felt remarkably good. Had her brother not been standing there, he would have rolled her onto her back and given her a proper good morning. Instead, he was shoveling a mountain of snow, willing his erection to subside. It couldn’t be healthy to be sporting wood in subzero temperatures.
Jensen and he had made pretty good progress on the driveway and cars by the time Melanie made it out. She looked adorable in her puffy, down jacket with her hat pulled low over her ears and a scarf wrapped several times around her neck. Her eyes lit up when they met his and she hurried over to give him a quick hug. With an arm around his waist, she called out, “Hey, Jensen; where’s my shovel?”
“Well, if you could see anything besides Vaughn, you would have seen it by the garage!” Jensen called out. Using his own shovel as a pointer, he added, “Right behind you.”
She was amazing and he took a moment to appreciate her as she walked over to get her shovel, as she held it over her head like a trophy to show her brother. With one last, longing look at Vaughn, she headed down to the bottom of the driveway to work up.
Within a few minutes, the three of them were working hard and b.s.-ing about everyday things, laughing heartily over Jensen’s dating disasters. Vaughn liked Jensen; hell, he liked all of the Jacobs; which made the next several weeks bittersweet; how would he ever let Melanie go? How could he ask her to stay with him?
“Hey, Melanie,” a new voice called out. Vaughn glanced up and saw a man approaching, a shovel in his hands. His senses went on alert as the man got closer to his Melanie but then he forced himself to relax since it was obvious both Jensen and Melanie knew the stranger and that he wasn’t a stranger to them. “I thought I’d lend a hand.”
“Hey, Terrance,” Melanie called out, a smile in her voice. “We appreciate the offer but I think we have it under control.”
“I insist,” the man – Terrance – said, ignoring her protests and digging in. Quite literally. Vaughn couldn’t tell much about the man because he wore layers of clothing like the rest of them. Judging by his voice, he was probably in his late twenties, early thirties. His appearance put an end to the camaraderie and the four of them now worked in companionable silence.
Vaughn found he missed the mindless chatter and laughter.
Melanie always had a soft spot for Terrance; he was older than her by a few years but younger than Jensen and had been a neighborhood playmate for as long as she could remember. For the longest time he had had a huge crush on Jenna and Melanie had been the only one who knew. The poor kid was painfully shy; or rather, he had been until senior year of high school when he grew eight inches, bulked up with muscle and lost the acne. By that time, Jenna was seriously involved with Jeremy and Terrance had his pick of cheerleaders.
Smiling at her old friend, Melanie continued shoveling,
figuring that the sooner they got done, the sooner they could go inside and have hot chocolate. At that moment, the front door opened and Melanie looked up to see Ferris come charging out, bundled up in her snowsuit and boots. She looked like a purple snowman and Melanie had to laugh.
Her laughter died in her throat as a little, gray-green creature caught her attention out of the side of her eye. But when she turned her head, the little guy was gone. Shaking her head to clear it of cobwebs, she tried to get back to work but she was distracted; were the little green creatures she was seeing real or was she just imagining things? Or were they the imps that Armand had mentioned in passing?
“Aunt Mellie!” Ferris called out, waving madly. “Watch what I can do!”
Pausing, Melanie watched her niece fall straight back into the snow and start making a snow angel. About to join Ferris, she paused, irritated by the pendant that was heating up against her skin. Rubbing at the annoying charm, she took a step and fell flat on her ass; and started to laugh at her clumsiness.
And then everything happened in a blur of motion. Vaughn flew over her and tackled Terrace to the ground; well, he didn’t actually fly since he was no longer a gargoyle, but he moved really fast. Jensen quickly joined him, wrestling with the downed man over the shovel. Soon, Vaughn was holding Terrance up by the scruff of the neck, a furious expression on his too-handsome face, and Jensen was bright red with fury.
“What the fuck, Terrance?!” Jensen was yelling once the man had been disarmed. Jensen glared at Terrance as he held the shovel away from him.
“What happened?” Melanie asked, shocked and confused. Had the whole world gone mad?
“This asshole tried to take your head off with his shovel,” Vaughn growled, giving Terrance a shake. “If you hadn’t fallen when you did, you would’ve been gravely wounded.”