by Mel Teshco
He set her gently onto her feet. And suddenly everything seemed awkward, contrived, as if they were young lovers experimenting with sex for the first time.
“Can I get you a drink?” he asked brusquely.
“Please.” She followed him to a cedar bar.
“Scotch, vodka?”
“Scotch. Thank you.”
Even when he was fully dressed in jeans and a white dress shirt, she couldn’t help but admire his body as he bent and selected a bottle from the lower shelf. He was built like an athlete. Wide shoulders, long, muscular legs and a flat stomach with a washboard ripple.
As he splashed the amber liquid into squat glasses, she asked, “Why did you bring me here? Why now?” When he turned, eyes hooded as he handed her the drink, she urged, “Tell me. Please.”
He took a swallow and then placed his glass back onto the bar. “I didn’t plan it. But I realized you didn’t want to go home…you never were comfortable there.”
He’d known! The harbor mansion had never felt welcoming. She’d always felt like an outsider looking in, never quite fitting into the world her father had expected her to inhabit.
She placed her untouched drink by his, studying his unreadable face. “You’re right. But so what?” She needed to hear how he felt without having to always second-guess him.
“You want me to spell it out?” he growled. “Want me on my knees, groveling?”
“It would make a nice change,” she said, deadpan.
His expression shifted and suddenly he threw his head back and let out a deep belly laugh, the sound rich and pleasurable as it rolled off his tongue and bounced off the pristine walls. His stare glittered, eyes eating her up. “Touché.”
She didn’t say a word, just stared and stared. Then he abruptly dropped onto his knees, his face open and letting her know it was her move.
She didn’t need coaxing. She moved toward him and he opened his arms, drawing her against him. His mouth lifted to meet hers and they kissed softly at first, exploring each other with tender restraint.
He pulled back a little, looking into her eyes with utter seriousness. “I have to ask you one last time because, God help me, I’ll never have the courage to ask again—is this what you want? Am I what you want?”
Loretta stepped back. “Yes.” Oh yes. She licked her swollen lower lip, eyeing his heat-stoked gaze, his sensual mouth. He was giving her control.
She lifted a hand, tracing the jagged scar along his brow and realizing it would be a permanent reminder for him of his human days long ago, before he’d become indestructible.
He must surely know she loved everything about him. His flaws were just a small part of his beautiful package. “I want no one else. Just…you.”
His breath hissed out, and suddenly they were in each other’s arms again, their mouths fused while each peeled the clothes frantically off the other.
Time was a luxury they had now, with Cray freed from his curse. But their hunger was urgent, primal, needy.
With their clothes scattered around them, he stood and propelled her backward, the wall suddenly against her spine. She eagerly wrapped her legs around his hips, emitting a gasp when the head of his cock nudged her slit, opening her to his sex.
He thrust forward and her head abruptly rocked back, a cry of pleasure-pain tearing from her lips as he filled her to the hilt.
He held the position for just a few seconds but it seemed long minutes as she writhed in his hold, so very desperate for more. He pulled back, the head of his cock just barely nudging her slick entrance, and she almost shrieked with the need to have him back inside her.
His ice blue stare anything but cold, he flashed a look that was wholly possessive as he demanded throatily, “Tell me you want me.”
Her chest heaved as she fought for breath, her breasts quivering. “I want you,” she gasped. And she knew as only a lover would—this time he wanted her to beg, not reassure.
His cock sank into her pussy a few inches, the cords along his neck straining. “I’m not sure I heard,” he grated out softly.
She drew in a breath, her nostrils flaring in response. The scent of male, of sex and passion, had her almost coming from arousal alone. “I want you! I want you so bad it almost hurts. I want all of you inside me!”
He smiled, triumphant. And with a barely contained groan, he thrust his cock fully inside her, the walls of her pussy clutching then releasing as he pounded a relentless rhythm that caught them up and held them as one, suspending them in a world where nothing else mattered, where only they existed.
A climax caught her unawares, holding her in its grip for a beat, before tossing her high, to a faraway place where her every pleasure crystallized then shattered and reformed again. She screamed out his name, her toes curling as she convulsed around his cock, Cray groaning loud and long as he shuddered his release deep inside her.
She became aware once more of her surroundings, heard the almost silent whir of air-conditioning, the deep tick-tock of a nearby grandfather clock.
With a stunned sigh, she ran the back of her hand over Cray’s shoulders, over his pecs and down along his abs. She smiled dreamily as he caught his breath in pleasure, his chest compressing.
She felt boneless, weightless as she swiveled her head to where huge windows showcased the city below and an endless horizon. Daylight had long since melted away. Now dusk breathed tinges of pink and gold into the air.
Loretta turned back, crooking her neck to watch the man above her. God, she didn’t want to lose him. She ran an abstract hand over her still-flat belly as emotion rose and swelled inside, snatching her breath and causing her pulses to jump.
Could she risk it all? Could she not? Could she truly be happy living without telling this man how she felt? No. Better to risk losing him than pretend such feelings didn’t exist. Better to risk his rejection by telling him their lovemaking had created a life that grew day by day inside her.
He leaned down, pressing a long, tender kiss to her lips. She smiled tentatively then unhooked her legs. Taking his hand, she led him to the glazed, floor-to-ceiling sliding doors and outside onto the patio. Pink and gold had smeared together, the sky blushed apricot.
“Beautiful,” he whispered, but he looked only at her.
“It’s a big world out there,” she said. “And now you have your freedom—”
“I want you more than ever.”
When she swung toward him, he said throatily, “I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t care where that is.”
“You really mean that?” she breathed.
“Yes. More than anything.” He curved a hand beneath her chin. “The night you were shot, when you put your life on the line for me, I surrendered to my feelings. I listened to my heart, which I’d ignored far too long.” His smile was filled with wonder and rich with warmth. “Only then did love break the curse.”
Her mind whirred. He really loved her! She allowed a moment of unparalleled joy. Her eyes held his. “But…how?”
His hand scraped a path along her jaw and down her throat. “I don’t really know. But the moment I was no longer compelled to guard a mortal, it was as if a fog that clouded my mind had suddenly lifted. Somehow I just knew I wouldn’t be turning to stone come sunrise.”
All this time he’d been trying to protect them both by rejecting how they felt. It truly was a miracle that he had embraced their deeper feelings.
He loved her, she realized yet again. She felt like a flower bursting open at dawn. “I love you too,” she said. “I’ve always loved you.”
A sound rumbled from deep in his chest. When it burst from his throat, it was unlike anything she’d heard. It was desperate joy and rising hope.
She swallowed. “Cray?” His expression went somber as her smile wobbled at the corners. “I think you’ll make a great dad.”
His mouth tightened. He dragged a hand through his short hair. “I’m sorry to turn your dreams to dust but that’s not going to
happen.”
He didn’t want to be a dad? Her heart sank, pain searing through her veins. No. She refused to believe he’d be anything but a fantastic father. She stepped closer, snaring his forearm. “You can learn. Together, we’ll make it happen.”
“Loretta.” Despair burned at the back of his eyes. “I’m sterile.” He turned away for a moment, clearly gathering his thoughts. “And even if it was possible, I still carry gargoyle DNA…”
“Cray, I’m pregnant.”
His eyes went wide, his jaw rigid. Her teeth pricked her lower lip as she whispered, dry-mouthed, “I’ve thought of all the worst-case scenarios, but no more. Our child will be healthy and happy—”
“And loved dearly,” Cray finished, taking hold of her waist and lifting her high as he let out an amazed whoop. With sudden care he placed her back onto her feet, his face beaming, incredulous as he asked, “You’re sure? About the baby, I mean.”
She nodded, and he folded her into his arms and held her tight, his breath warm on her scalp, his heart galloping against her cheek.
Stars lit up the sky like a chandelier when he at last released her and voiced once more, “I love you. God, how I love you.”
She giggled, heady with emotion as he abruptly changed into gargoyle. He climbed over the safety rail and held out his arms, his wings fluttering lazily behind.
“It’s a beautiful night.” He stretched out a hand. “Come explore it with me.”
“No duty, no curse. Just us?”
He wrapped her close. “Yes. Our own joyride. Together. Forever.”
About the Author
Mel Teshco lives in rural Australia with too many animals, too many children and not enough hours in the day to write!
Her loving husband is in training as a real-life hero and waits patiently to retire on the success of his wife’s writing.
The author welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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