Removing the Gargoyle’s Mask

by Charlie Richards

  After several deep breaths, Marty became aware of an odd vibration thrumming through him, accompanied by a soft chitter coming from Ray. Marty’s tension eased. Even as he cuddled the other man closer, wanting to feel and hear more of the odd noise, his brows drew down in confusion at his response.

  “Relax,” Ray crooned, petting his arms, sides, and shoulders. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

  Humming quietly as his tension eased, Marty once again started petting the other man’s back. “Okay, tell me what the hell that was and why I like it so much,” he muttered.

  “It’s called trilling,” Ray told him softly. “It’s a vibration gargoyles can create and use to soothe people they care for.” Pressing a soft kiss to Marty’s neck, he added, “It’s especially useful for calming a panicking mate.”

  Scoffing, Marty nodded against the other male’s shoulder. “I’ll say.”

  They remained silent for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s touch and company. Finally, Marty sighed and pulled back again. He gripped Ray’s shoulders and eased him off his lap. Ray appeared confused and almost hurt, until Marty smiled encouragingly.

  Marty found it kinda sexy how Ray allowed him to manhandle him until he lay across the bed. Swallowing hard, Marty took in the creature spread out before him. He couldn’t put his finger on why he found Ray so sexy and why he wanted to touch him and explore him everywhere.

  Evidently, Ray guessed his confusion. For, even as Marty reached out and traced several fingertips over the skin of Ray’s thigh, his lover roughly explained, “You’re attracted to me because of the mate-pull.”

  Frowning at that, an idea gave him pause. “Would I not be attracted to you otherwise?” He wasn’t certain how he felt about having his attraction to someone manipulated by some force beyond him.

  “Yeah, but you might not act on it otherwise,” Ray explained. “The pull provided by you being my mate gives you that extra push to go after what you want, even if you don’t understand it.”

  “Ah,” Marty murmured. That sounded better. Just as he’d been attracted to other men in the past, he hadn’t done anything about it, always finding it easier to date women. If he’d allowed his own narrow-mindedness to cloud his judgment, he never would have experienced the amazing—albeit brief—bliss of going to pieces in Ray’s arms. An event he really, really wanted to feel again. Just thinking about it caused his cock to begin thickening anew.

  Marty decided he’d appreciate the creature before him now and worry about everything else later. Was his prick doing the thinking? Probably, but for now, he didn’t give a shit. He couldn’t remember the last regular lover he’d had and planned to take complete advantage of the sensations Ray created in him…for however long the gargoyle would give him.

  He’d worry about everything else later…much later.

  Taking in the sprawled male before him, Marty licked his lips and reached for the ties of the soiled loincloth. “I want to see all of you. Explore you. Take this off.”

  Chapter Seven

  Raymond shivered at the feral lust flooding his mate’s eyes. He couldn’t believe his human wanted to see him, touch him, explore him even. He knew he had a hell of a lot to explain, like bonding and how Marty’s life would be extended and molting and…

  Marty’s hand caressing his half-hard prick interrupted his train of thought.

  Gods, when had Marty opened his loincloth?

  Raymond spread his legs wider, staring down at the lightly bronzed, work-roughened hand slowly tracing over his shaft, making it swell to full arousal. Marty wrapped his hand around his cock, half-jacking his shaft. Raymond gasped as the move pulled his foreskin forward and back, his wide slit winking at him.

  When a thick dollop of pre-cum oozed from him, Marty made a noise like a growl, low in his throat. He dipped the tip of his finger halfway under Raymond’s foreskin, scooped it up, then spread the translucent fluid down the throbbing vein running the underside of his dick.

  Raymond moaned and clutched the comforter, just retaining enough control to keep from rending the fabric. His tail twitched where he had it wrapped around his leg. He struggled to control the appendage, when all he wanted to do was allow it to writhe in his enjoyment.

  Evidently, Raymond hadn’t been completely successful, for Marty spread his palms over his upper thighs. Marty grinned as he slowly caressed his way down the firm flesh until he came to where his tail wrapped around his leg, just below his knee. Instead of moving past it and continuing down his leg, Marty brushed his fingertips lightly along the appendage.

  Raymond shuddered, hard, hissing through clenched teeth. Another drop of pre-cum oozed from his prick. Even his wingskin’s bone-spurs began to extend from his back.

  Marty glanced up. His eyes gleamed as he took in the changes. “You like that, don’t you, babe?”

  Raymond jerked a nod, unable to find his tongue because, right then, Marty gently grasped his tail and pulled it free of his leg, only to slide his hand up and down the leathery appendage.

  “Oh, fuck,” Raymond groaned as tendrils of sensation peppered up his tail to center in his groin. It spread over his chest like fire dancing across his skin, making his nipples bead and his breath come in harsh pants.

  “Good God, Ray,” Marty muttered. “You’re stunning. Could I get you to come just like this?” he asked just as he moved his second hand to Raymond’s jutting shaft and jacked in time with his strokes to his tail.

  Raymond’s balls pulled up so fast it took his breath away. Unable to answer, he bucked helplessly in his mate’s grip. Incoherent whines and moans escaped him. Seconds later, his balls lifted and he spurted, painting his chest and abs as the second orgasm of the evening rolled through him hard and fast. Roaring his pleasure, his canines ached with the desire to sink them into his mate’s shoulder. It was a good thing Marty wasn’t close enough for him to reach, because he didn’t think he’d be able to resist the urge a second time.

  As he slowly came down off the natural endorphin high, a shiver worked through him. Cracking open his eyelids, he watched Marty trace his fingers along the extra folds of skin. Then, he stroked along his wingskin’s bone-spurs where they were halfway extended from his back, stretching the skin that bunched around them. Tingles broke out over his skin, making his breathing hitch even as trepidation worked through him.

  What if my mate decides I’m too different?

  “You are so fascinating,” Marty muttered, continuing to rub along his bone-spurs, then sweeping over the folds of skin that made up his wings when they were fully extended.

  Raymond couldn’t help but pant at his mate’s touch. Even his prick had returned to hard and throbbing. His wings had always been sensitive to touch not his own…but this was his mate touching him. Just that knowledge seemed to amplify every caress and stroke by ten-fold.

  Looking up and capturing Raymond’s gaze, Marty’s lips curved into a sexy, satisfied grin. “Oh, you do respond like a dream. Never met anyone who loved my touch so much.” As he continued to stroke Raymond’s now fully extended bone-spurs and caress the attached folds of wingskin, now almost stretched taught. “Go ahead and grab the headboard, babe,” Marty rumbled, satisfaction flooding his tone. “I want to see you all spread out.”

  Whimpering, Raymond couldn’t help but obey his mate’s command. He lifted his arms over his head and tucked his hands between the headboard and mattress, gripping the wood. The move effectively showed off the extent of his wingskin.

  Marty hummed his approval. He stroked Raymond’s sensitive flesh, then trailed his fingers over his ribcage, down his abs, and along the grooves of his groin. Raymond moaned, his jutting cock twitching. Marty grinned smugly. He slid his hands between Raymond’s legs and encouraged them up and open, revealing every inch of his groin.

  “So sexy,” Marty muttered. He lowered his hand and used the pad of his thumb to caress Raymond’s taint. Marty’s gaze seemed riveted to his small hole as he gently
massaged the opening. “Never been with a guy, but seen plenty of porn.” Marty lifted his gaze to Raymond’s. Swallowing hard, he admitted, “Know I need lube. You got any?” Suddenly, Marty flushed, blood flooding his cheeks and neck. “Shit, should I ask if I’m allowed to fuck you?” He grimaced, admitting, “I don’t know if there are rules for this sort of thing.”

  Realizing his mate was confused about fucking, not about fucking him, Raymond smiled encouragingly and nodded toward the nightstand where he’d placed the lube. “There,” Raymond instructed. “Use plenty of it.”

  Marty leaned and grabbed the tube resting beside the lamp. Holding it up, he opened it and poured a liberal amount onto his fingers. He swirled it around a bit. Marty glanced at Raymond’s groin, then met Raymond’s gaze.

  Sensing his mate’s trepidation, Raymond clenched his abs and rocked his legs higher. “Come on, Marty. Need you. Fill me up.”

  Marty’s eyes widened as he peered at him in shock. The scent of his mate’s arousal thickened the air. “Ray?”

  Raymond slowly curved his lips into a grin. “Come on, sexy man. Show me what ya got.”

  For several long seconds, Marty just stared at him. Raymond wondered what the holdup was…until he saw the uncertainty in his lover’s eyes. Oh, right, never been with a man. Shit, was he pushing?

  Lowering his legs, Raymond smiled encouragingly. “We don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. I could just suck you off, if you want,” he offered.

  “Just tell me what to do,” Marty snapped back, a scowl creasing his brow.

  Raymond reached up and touched Marty’s forearm, then spread his legs as wide as he could. “Use plenty of lube. Have you seen stretching in those pornos you watched?”

  Marty flushed, but he still nodded.

  “Good. Just do what they did,” he encouraged.

  Marty gave him a funny look, then, without preamble, slid one lubed finger into his chute as deep as it would go. Raymond gasped, then moaned when Marty rubbed over his prostate while withdrawing his finger. Grunting, Raymond rocked, chasing that finger and the fullness it represented.

  A large palm settled on Raymond’s belly just as that thick finger slid back into his rectum. The digit stilled and the thumb on his belly rubbed the skin of his groin, touching and rubbing just the base of his shaft lightly.

  Raymond hissed at the dual sensation.

  “Easy, Ray,” Marty crooned. “It’s all right. I got ya.”

  Forcing himself to take two long slow deep breaths, Raymond got hold of himself. Still, he wanted, needed more, and with his mate’s finger in his ass and his other hand on his belly, playing with his prick, he didn’t feel too shy to tell him. “Give me another finger, mate. Need another now.”

  Marty nodded. Without hesitation, he slid another into him.

  Raymond sighed and nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I need.” He rolled his hips, accepting his lover’s digit. Moaning at the feeling of slowly being stretched, he gasped, “More. Fuck, put another one in me.”

  “You sure?”

  Even with Marty sounding worried, Raymond could do little to assure his lover except nod his head vigorously. He needed too badly. The sight of his mate’s thick pulsing cock, hanging just below his opening caused his mouth to go dry with anticipation. If he couldn’t suck his human’s cock, he wanted that long fat prick in his ass.

  A third finger speared him. Even slicked with lube, his mate’s fingers were thick. Gods, what they said about big hands meant big pricks was true, at least in his mate’s case. The burn and slide, push and pull, never felt better than anything in his life. His mate’s scent surrounded him, pushed his desire and excitement higher.

  “Now, oh fuck, now,” Raymond couldn’t help but plead. “Do it now.”

  Marty nodded quickly, his blue eyes ablaze with lust. “Y-Yeah, okay.”

  Taking a chance, Raymond released the headboard so he could reach up and gently cup his lover’s cheek. “You won’t hurt me. I want to feel you. Please, let me feel you.”

  A wide smile curved Marty’s deeply tanned features. “Yeah,” he rumbled, his voice dropping low and deep. “I can do that.”

  Marty’s fingers slipped from his rectum, and it took everything in Raymond to keep from moaning in frustration. Only the look of utter concentration on his mate’s face as he gripped his cock and pressed the head against his hole stopped him.

  Suddenly, Marty’s brows creased. He blinked, as if coming out of a lust-filled haze. He frowned and muttered, “Condom. Shouldn’t we be using a condom?”

  Shit, nothing like being smacked upside the head by being a paranormal at the worst moment.

  Raymond slid his hand around his mate’s head, and feathered his fingers up the back of his neck, feeling his shortly cropped blond hair. When Marty peered up at him with creased brows and a confused expression on his face, Raymond did his best to look understanding.

  “I’m not human, Marty,” Raymond crooned, trying his best attempt at soothing. “Even if you carry something you don’t know about, I can’t catch it.” With a smile curving his lips, he gave a slight shrug. “No condom needed with me.”

  Marty blinked once, twice as if processing those words. Then a big grin lit up his features and he thrust—hard—breaching Raymond’s guardian ring of muscle. Raymond gasped, then pushed out, helping his sexy human slide deeper inside him. Marty’s thick shaft pressed against him from the inside out.

  Raymond moaned, returned his grip to the headboard, and rocked into the sensation of his lover filling him. Wrapping his legs around his mate’s waist, ever mindful of his claws, he watched his human’s body shudder, gleaming with sweat. Then, the man started pulling slowly out, the creases around his eyes expressing his struggle to remain in control.

  Deciding he needed to prove to Marty that he didn’t need that control with him, that his human could take anything he needed, Raymond clenched his chute around his lover’s cock. He wanted to feel his man, feel the sexy human’s shaft spearing him over and over.

  Marty seemed to freeze above him. Raymond noted the clenched jaw, giving away his tension. Need to drive his lover out of his mind, give him a reason never to question his decision to couple with him, to share his body with him, filled Raymond. He started rocking his hips, forcing his mate to sink just a smidge deeper into him. As he released his abs and sank back on the mattress, he clenched his chute.

  It took four repetitions, but finally, with a hoarse shout, Marty seemed to lose it. Letting out a low, feral growl, he dropped to his elbows and began ramming his hips. Marty drove into Raymond again and again. He grunted above him with each thrust, the sound distinctly masculine.

  Raymond did his best to meet his mate thrust for thrust. Desire to plunge his canines into his man’s neck flooded through him. When his lover shuddered and sank his prick into his channel one last time—semen soaking his channel with warm heat—Raymond lost all command over his body. He roared his release, his prick spurting jet after jet of cum between their bodies.

  As Marty’s warm release soaked his channel, Raymond could think of only one thing. An urge that had lain dormant for nearly two centuries roared to life, becoming undeniable.

  Raymond sank his canines into his mate’s shoulder. Blood poured over his tongue, metallic and delicious. He hummed as he drank down his mate’s life-giving essence, beginning the bonding process, sucking lightly on the wound to gain another heady swallow.

  Somewhere in the peripheral of his mind, Raymond heard his lover, his mate, cry out with pleasure. Wrapped in the beginnings of a peace and contentment he’d never known possible, all he could do was smile as he clung to his mate.

  Chapter Eight

  Marty squeezed his eyes shut tighter, hating how the sun always seemed to manage to cast that perfect stream of light through the curtains and right into his eyes. It never ceased to piss him off. Flopping over, Marty cast an arm over his eyes. He knew he wasn’t a morning p
erson.

  Never have been. Never will be.

  The movement sent a twinge through his shoulder. His brows scrunched together even more. Um, ow! Flashes of the evening before popped through his memory, reminding him of the unexpected events. Getting kidnapped. Waking in darkness. Panicking. Raymond’s sweet sultry voice. Then exploring the sexy gargoyle’s body.

  Arm still over his eyes, Marty smiled. God, what a night. So much pleasure. When his little lover had bitten him, it’d been a shock. What had been even more surprising was the bliss-inducing orgasm that had completely blind-sided him. While Raymond sucked on the wound, the sensation had transferred straight to his cock, making him explode and fill his lover all over again.

  Hot damn, I can’t wait to do that again!

  He trailed the fingers of his free hand over the sheets. Finding them empty and cold, he scowled. Concern flooded him as an off chord reverberated through him. When he’d passed out shortly after cleaning them both up, Ray had been tucked safely in his arms.

  Okay. So where the fuck is my gargoyle?

  Rolling over again, Marty swung his legs to the side and swept his gaze over the area. He spotted a lump of…something…over near the window. Marty pushed off the bed and headed that way. Dropping to his knees beside the stone form, he brushed a hand over it, trying to figure out what the hell he was looking at.

  “Just like in the myths, gargoyles do turn to stone during the daylight hours.”

  Marty started at the masculine voice. Losing his balance, he landed hard on his ass. Jerking around, Marty scowled as he took in the big, darkly tanned fellow seated on an ottoman on the other side of the room.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He looked over his shoulder at the black stone that looked an awful lot like his lover, curled up in a ball and sleeping. He ran his fingers over what should have been Ray’s bald pate. “How is this possible?”